New York, May 4--Chain store retail sales rose 0.5 percent in the week ended April 30, compared with a 0.3 percent decline the previous week, the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS said in a joint report.
Compared with the same week a year ago, sales momentum softened to a 3.0 percent increase after a 4.0 percent rise the preceding week.
"For the last week of April, we saw retail chain store sales rise as a result of increased consumer traffic," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist and director of research.
"For the month, we expect comp-store sales to grow by 2.0 percent," Niemira added. ICSC will release retail sales figures for April on Thursday, May 5, 2005.
The ICSC-UBS Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot is compiled from a group of major discount, department and chain stores across the country that report their weekly results.
